SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Three Saratoga Springs police officers were suspended Tuesday after they allegedly assaulted a man at Dango Fitzgerald's on Caroline Street early Monday morning.

The city police department is investigating the assault, both criminally and in an internal investigation, Saratoga Springs Police Chief Chris Cole said Tuesday afternoon.

"The chips are going to fall where they may," he said.

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Two sources with knowledge of the investigation who were not authorized to speak on the record identified the three officers involved as Edward Braim, Mark Leffler and John Guzek.

Cole would not release the names because the investigation is ongoing.

Police issued a statement Tuesday night that said three officers have been placed on suspension after they were "involved in a dispute." The statement did not specify whether the leave is paid or unpaid, Lt. John Catone referred all comment on the incident to Cole who did not return a request for comment Tuesday night.

The victim called police at about 12:52 a.m. Monday and said he was assaulted at about 12:15 a.m. and that he believed the assailants were off-duty police officers.

Police say he went to the hospital for treatment of "non-serious injuries."

Cole said at about 5 p.m. Tuesday that the officers had not yet been suspended but hadn't been back to work because of scheduled time off. Then at about 9 p.m., the police department released a statement that said the three officers were placed on suspension pending the outcome of the investigation.

"If there is an arrest made, it will obviously be public knowledge," he said, adding that the allegations were being "taken very seriously.

"We have to treat this like any other criminal investigation," he said, adding that he doesn't think it's "unreasonable" for the assault investigation to take roughly a day and a half because of the time taken to locate the witnesses who were in the bar at the time of the assault.

He said that even if the alleged assault does not rise to the level of criminal behavior, disciplinary action still may be taken because the department has policies regarding the off-duty behavior of its members.

The investigation comes after the department was criticized for withholding information about a rape that occurred on a city street in September. More than a month passed before a description of the suspect or details of the alleged assault were released by police.

Tuesday, Cole released a statement regarding the rape, acknowledging the public fallout and taking "full responsibility" for not releasing any information about the incident.

"In retrospect, it may have been appropriate to release a general statement regarding the incident," he said.

In the statement on the rape case, Cole added "(I) pledge to personally review each future reported incident to ensure appropriate notifications are made."